Time to put on our XO Laptop Thinking Caps

I believe the XO laptop is a “game changer,” a revolutionary device whose profound impact we are only just beginning to appreciate.

I worked for a couple of years in a strategy group, as it happened that this group then had responsibility for managing IBM’s day-to-day affairs in open-source matters.

Our manager, Doug, would often say, when we had to deal with a new issue — one where the answer was not obvious — that we should “put on our thinking caps,” by which he meant we had to think “out of the box” and not be constrained by conventional thinking.

The XO Laptop is the first instance of what I call a “terraputer,” meaning a computer that was designed from the start to use only free and open-source software for the basic operating system and the core applications. Moreover, this magical box sets new benchmarks for low power consumption and being environmentally friendly. It is a green box not only in the color but as part of the “Green” movement that is struggling to limit man’s impact on the earth’s environment.

I have already ordered my XO. But it hasn’t yet arrived. So while I am waiting for it to arrive I am going to put on my XO Thinking Cap (pictured above), and write a number of speculative posts, in which I will try to think through some of the issues, challenges, and opportunities that now face us with the availability of the XO laptop.